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Hands on Discovery Learning encompasses all content areas in the six Integrated curriculum units of Third Grade.

First Six Weeks: A Matter of Time
Students study matter, measure mass, and practice the Scientific Method. Contunuity and Change takes a look at changes made over the past few centuries. A trip to the Heritage Farmstead Museum enriches this unit of study.

Second Six Weeks: Seeking Reasonable Solutions
Students learn about health and illnesses, animal life cycles, and simple machines. Culmination of the unit is a student created Simple Machine Fair for the third grade students.

Third Six Weeks: Diversity
Students learn about their heritage and the heritage of classmates after completing a home survey. The novel, If Your Name Was Changed at Ellis Island, helps students understand the term immigration. Students become more aware of diversity as each class studies a particular country. Maps, customs, animals, language, and literature from each country is explored. The unit culminates when students travel to America and bring the culture from their studied country.

Fourth Six Weeks: Systems
In this unit, students learn the importance of systems in our daily lives. Components and functions of each system are identified. The culminating activity is a graphic representation of our solar system, made by each student.

Fifth Six Weeks: Communication
The Fine Arts of Sharing focuses on the concept of communication; sight and sound is explored through hands on discovery learning activities.

Sixth Six Weeks: Balance and Stability
Students focus on their community as a resource to balance their daily activities involving social and nutritional needs.

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The Language Arts program incorporates writing, listening, and speaking with reading activities. Students gain knowledge through shared, independent, and guided reading while reading high quality literature.

Daily oral language and writing workshop strengthen students' writing skills. Students improve their writing skills through narrative, letter writing, and explanatory writing. Capitalization and punctuation, spelling, and grammar are emphasized in all areas of the curriculum.

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The third grade mathematics program places great emphasis on the understanding of mathematical concepts, thinking, and reasoning skills. Hands-on learning activities are a top priority using manipulatives, computers, and mathematical games. The importance of mathematics in students' daily lives is emphasized throughout the units. Specific objectives are:

• Problem solving
• Patterns, relations, and function
• Number and numeration concepts
• Operations and computation
• Measurement
• Geometry
• Probability, statistics, and graphing

Planners: Beginning the second week of school, students will have planners signed each evening by a parent/guardian. Each teacher will check for parent signature each morning. Students will receive a "Sweet Success" sticker for parent signatures on planners.

Homework Policy: It is expected that all students will:

• Read at least 100 minutes each week
• Spend 10 minutes practicing math facts each evening
• Spend 10 minutes studying the week's Spelling words

Additional extra practice may be determined to be necessary by your child's teacher. Please check planners NIGHTLY to ensure your child has completed all homework.

Reading: All students will complete a reading log. Students are required to read at least 100 minutes a week. Logs may be kept at home and need to be returned to school on Monday mornings. Teachers will check logs for a minimum of 100 minutes per week as well as a parent signature.

Citizenship: Students are expected to be kind, considerate and respectful toward each other and school staff. Students are expected to behave in an age-appropriate manner and practice the 3 R's by being Respectful, Responsible and Ready to learn. We feel strongly that positive reinforcement and natural consequences are more beneficial than punitive measures. Every effort will be made to recognize students who demonstrate the citizen/character traits promoted by PISD. A poster depicting these traits hangs in every classroom. The number of signatures per nine weeks on the Communication Card determines the Citizenship grade for each child: 0 - 4 E, 5 - 9 S, 10 - 14 N and 15+ U. Please check with your child's teacher if you have any questions.

Communication Card: Each student has a communication card. Your child's teacher will use this card to communicate with you weekly. You will be able to see each week if anything has occurred in the classroom to impact your student's citizenship or work habits grade. We will be adding positive comments to each student's card at the end of each week and encourage you to do the same in the comments section.

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Please send comments or suggestions to Mona Lisee
Updated August 2009